Struggling
by invisible-nobody15
Summary: With Naruto always at work, a distance begins to grow between Hinata and him. An in-depth look at the Naruto/Hinata drama that obviously happened during the Boruto series/movie. Rated M for future language.


**A/N: Did anyone ask for angsty NaruHina? No? Well, I originally wanted to write fluff for these two (because NaruHina is probably the fluffiest couple out of all of them, let's be honest (even though ShikTema is the better couple), but then I was talking with my sister and this idea popped into my head. And it wouldn't go away. You know the feeling; I had to get it out somehow!**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

Trouble in Paradise

Sakura knew that something was wrong.

Ever since Naruto and Hinata had gotten together all those years ago on their mission to the moon, they had been practically inseparable. They were holding hands everywhere they go, too shy to do anything else. But soon enough, Sakura would be walking down the street and see them making out on a bench somewhere - and when she pointed it out, they would separate and flush a deep red. They were always together, unless they were peeing, sleeping, or on a mission.

And sometimes, Naruto would just smile at her like an idiot when she wasn't looking. Such a Naruto thing to do - although it certainly showed how much he had grown over the years.

They were truly in love.

That's probably why they got married only a few months after they started dating. Nineteen-years-old and Naruto had already decided that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Hinata - day _and_ night. His favorite thing to say the entire time they were engaged was, (as he was holding Hinata, and smiling like an idiot, as aforementioned): "Think about it. Soon, we'll be able to wake up _everyday_ like this, and fall asleep together _every night_. Awesome, right!"

If she was being honest, she was jealous of their relationship and how perfect it was. Any arguments they had were fairly minor and worked themselves out within the same day they started. Sometimes, it seemed as if they knew how the other was feeling without either having to say a word. Compared to Sakura's unrequited infatuation with Sasuke, Naruto and Hinata's relationship seemed like it belonged in a movie. How could she not yearn for something similar?

The couple had faced two big struggles throughout the years - at least, that Sakura was aware of. The first was actually quite funny, if not painful, to watch. Naruto had never been known to be as perverted as his senseis' had been. For a while, Naruto barely showed any interest in anything related to sex, other than the occasional joke or use of his Sexy Jutsu. That all changed when he was seeing Hinata.

After about a month-and-a-half of dating Hinata, her and Naruto's make-out sessions would begin to get quite heated; climbing on one another, grabbing, and the occasional moan from Hinata. It became quite clear what both of them wanted (instigating quite the awkward conversation between Naruto (who had questions) and Sakura), but there was a problem with that.

Being from the Hyuuga clan, pretty much everything you could possibly want to do in life had a strict rule to go along with it. You wanna go somewhere? Better have an official statement from the Hokage to leave the village, or you're grounded for an indeterminate amount of time. You wanna have sex? Better be legally married, or you'll be the disgrace of your household. You wanna have a baby? You _better_ be legally married, or you'll be thrown out of the clan all together.

Therefore, Naruto and Hinata had to refrain from sex until their honeymoon, and it was very entertaining to watch their struggle. Even if at times it was very uncomfortable to watch Hinata climb on Naruto while they were making out, watch him grab her butt, watch her moan, and then - not even two minutes later - watching his face flush when he asked Hinata not to stand up yet because he didn't want everyone to see his boner.

Sakura giggled at the memory.

The other problem they had, Sakura felt a little bad for them about. About a year after their marriage, Naruto and Hinata decided to try to have a baby. Sakura wasn't there at that point, having left with Sasuke shortly after the wedding, but she's heard all about the struggle from Hinata later on. Apparently, just wanting to have the baby does not automatically guarantee conception. From what Hinata told her, her and Naruto had sex like wild animals in heat to the point where they _didn't want sex anymore._ They were _tired_ of it, but they had to. They really wanted a kid.

Eventually, of course, they succeeded. Boruto was the only child out of all of them, even his little sister, to have been consciously conceived. But what wonderful accidents the others were. Sakura wouldn't trade in Sarada for anything in the world - even for Sasuke to finally come back from his long-term mission. But she saw him just recently, and it's been nine years, so she was sure that she could handle a few more.

In their thirteen years of marriage, Sakura had never seen Hinata _avoid_ Naruto. She had never seen Hinata _yell_ at Naruto. And she still wasn't doing anything so obvious. It was in the little things, Sakura saw. A moment of silence at the end of a conversation. A second of loose hand holding. A lack of nervous laughter from Naruto. Most of the time, Sakura noticed, he wasn't even smiling as they talked - _when_ they talked.

It was these things that made Sakura raise an eyebrow. She took note of what was happening, but she didn't ask. It wasn't her business, so she didn't intrude. Plus, it was _Naruto and Hinata_. They would work it out on their own. She could only imagine what had happened to get them into such a serious fight, however. They were both fairly diplomatic people, so they usually worked things out rather quickly.

A couple weeks later, Hinata began asking Sakura to deliver messages to Naruto. Naturally, Sakura figured Hinata was busy, so she agreed to help out her friend. When she found out the Hinata had gone home to do the dishes for the second time that day and play with Himawari, the medic's curiosity piqued. It didn't take a genius to realize that Hinata _was_ actively trying to avoid conversing with Naruto, if she could help it.

That's when Sakura decided to go talk to Hinata and see what was wrong. Naruto was like her brother, and Hinata was her friend - so of course she wanted them to be happy. She took Hinata out for coffee the afternoon after her realization. When they talked, Hinata had seemed happy enough; just as cheerful and and low-key energetic as always. It was when Sakura brought up Naruto that things turned sour.

People used to say that Sakura had a bad reaction whenever somebody would bring up Sasuke while he was still rouge. They weren't wrong, but at least she hadn't reacted like Hinata. Sakura had a tendency to beat herself up whenever she felt bad about Sasuke running away to Orochimaru. But as soon as Sakura asked Hinata how her and Naruto were doing, the dark-haired beauty furrowed her eyebrows and tightened her grip on her mug.

Sakura rarely ever heard Hinata yell. She wasn't really a _yeller_ \- even when she was excited about something. So when Hinata snapped at her when Sakura asked if she could help, it would be an understatement to say that she was taken aback. Hinata yelled at her once more, before Sakura had a chance to defend herself, before getting up and walking away. The pink-haired Uchiha hadn't known what to make of the conversation.

It was just so _unlike_ Hinata.

Not one to leave good enough alone when it came to her troubled friends (apparently Naruto had rubbed off on her more than she thought), she went to Hinata's house - after waiting half an hour - to give her time to cool down. She knocked on the front door, not surprised when no one answered. So she let herself in, since Naruto and Hinata rarely had the sense to lock their front door.

Sakura gasped, a bowling-ball sized weight of worry settled into her stomach. She covered her mouth for a moment before rushing over to sit next to the couch. Hinata lay on it, hair unbrushed and messy, her fair face spotted with pink splotches. Sakura moved some hair out of her face to notice how _wet_ it was. Hinata yelled at her to leave, and asked her to babysit Himawari for the night.

Being the person she was, she stayed next to Hinata until she fell asleep long after the sun had set. She covered up the younger woman, and then went to her own house. She gave Sarada a giant hug, made dinner, and then began to prepare for bed herself. The entire afternoon kept running and re-running through Sakura's head. She sighed as she climbed into bed. As she closed her eyes, she affirmed her belief once more.

Sakura knew that something was wrong.


End file.
